Fort Lauderdale man charged with killing driver of moving SUV

A 41-year-old Fort Lauderdale resident has been charged with first-degree murder in the death of a man who was shot while behind the wheel of a moving SUV that went on to crash into a light pole.

Dan Gerard Holmes was picked up Monday night in his car at the intersection of Interstate 95 and Broward Boulevard, the Broward Sheriff's Office said.

He is charged with shooting Johnny Lee Ross, 45, from the passenger seat of a maroon 2006 Ford Expedition that Ross was driving north on Northwest 28th Terrace, just west of Fort Lauderdale in unincorporated Broward County, about 8:45 p.m. Sunday.

Witnesses told detectives they heard gunshots as the vehicle moved slowly down the street and then hit the pole in the 2800 block of Northwest 4th Street. At the scene, deputies found the driver's side door open and Ross face down on the ground, according to an arrest affidavit filed in the case.

Paramedics observed one gunshot wound to Ross's upper right arm right and another to the abdomen, the affidavit said. He was taken to Broward Health Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead at 9:27 p.m., according to the Sheriff's Office.

Detectives said they spotted blood spatter inside the Expedition and a bullet hole in the center console, according to an arrest warrant. A .45-caliber shell casing was recovered from the 300 block of Northwest 28th Terrace, BSO said.

Also found on the floor of the car was a black cellphone "which rang repeatedly," investigators said in the warrant.

One witness reported seeing a muzzle flash inside the car. Other witnesses said they saw a man fitting Holmes' description get out of the car and walk south in the middle of Northwest 28th Terrace.

He appeared "suspicious" and seemed to be carrying something in his right hand that he kept at his side, witnesses told detectives.

As he walked away from the scene, Holmes told one witness, "Some white boys are shooting down there," the affidavit said.

Holmes, who lives near the scene of the homicide and is known by the nickname "Four-five," was identified by several witnesses who were shown a photo lineup, according to investigators.

The owner of the car in which Ross was shot is a 45-year-old woman who identified herself as the victim's girlfriend. She told detectives Ross went out to run an errand about 8:30 p.m., just 15 minutes prior to being shot.

During a first-appearance court hearing on Tuesday, Broward Judge John "Jay" Hurley ordered Holmes held without bond because of the murder charge and because he is a registered sex offender who had failed to comply with the requirements of his release.